you know how these things go. >> it's a tremendous story. and a story of migration. there are asian fish, how it go there throughout the atlantic, caribbean and gulf is quite the phenomenon. >> it is. they think maybe people got tired of it in their aquarium and threw it in the ocean. >> tossed it out and it multiplied. we have much more news, politics straight ahead. "the situation room" with wolf blitzer right now. thanks very much. happening now, president obama on this day he has some time to raise money in person, but only time for a phone call with israel's leader. more criticism coming in. we're also looking at the obama administration's evolving attempts to explain who's responsible for the deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in libya. is the confusion becoming a political liability? and mitt romney says he has a little secret. you're going to hear him predict he'll win a state most experts think is safely in president obama's column. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room."

we're down to just 39 days until the presidential election. in about 20 minutes the president begins a series of fundraisers right here in washington. those are the only public events on his calendar today. yet this is the same day the president didn't have time for a face-to-face meeting with the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu who's in new york. instead they spoke by phone. here's cnn's white house correspondent dan lothian. dan. >> reporter: wolf, the white house always stresses that the president and prime minister netanyahu are in touch frequently. they downplay any daylight between the two leaders. but they didn't meet face-to-face this week. and so one phone call is getting a lot of attention. president obama and prime

minister netanyahu attended the united nations general assembly in new york, but at different times. the white house insisted it was a scheduling issue, not a snub. no meetings, no handshakes. but today a follow-up phone call that a senior administration official told cnn lasted more than 20 minutes. in a statement released by the white house, the conversation included "a range of security issues," the president reaffirmed his commitment to israel security. and the two leaders were in full agreement on preventing iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. prime minister netanyahu has been pressuring the u.s. to lay down a so-called red line on iran that would prompt military action. at the u.n. he used a prop to drive home his point. >> a red line should be drawn right here. before iran completes the second stage of nuclear enrichment

necessary to make a bomb. >> reporter: while some have accused the prime minister of pressuring the president to help gop nominee mitt romney, mr. netanyahu has said his actions are not tied to the u.s. political calendar. the white house downplays any friction between the two leaders and brushes aside criticism that there was no face-to-face meeting. >> the president has met with and spent time on the phone with prime minister netanyahu more than with any leader since he took office. and that is reflective of the importance of and the closeness of the relationship between the united states and israel. >> reporter: the white house would not say if the two leaders talked about the so-called red line, which of course is a key issue. and no specifics on how they will stop iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. but they did agree to "continue their regular consultations on this issue." wolf. >> dan lothian reporting from the white house. thank you. mitt romney also spoke by phone today with the prime minister. the call came while romney was at the philadelphia airport

after making several campaign stops in pennsylvania. that's a state most political experts don't think he'll win. but as cnn's national political correspondent jim acosta's reporting, romney seems to have some other ideas. jim's joining us right now. what's he saying? what's going on in pennsylvania, jim? >> reporter: wolf, you're right. mitt romney did predict he's going to win the state of pennsylvania come november. but even though his campaign has mainly been a focus on fixing the nation's economy, mitt romney in recent days has been stepping up his attacks on the president on the issue of national security. and specifically lately on who's a better friend of israel. and there are signs the obama campaign is paying attention. at a military academy in pennsylvania, mitt romney tried to make the case for a new commander in chief. romney once again questioned the president's recent description of events in the middle east as bumps in the road. >> i sure as heck don't consider

iran becoming nuclear a bump in the road. we need someone who recognizes the seriousness of what's ahead and is willing to lead. >> reporter: romney's tough talk on iran follows israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu's drawing attention at the united nations to the nuclear worries. >> a red line should be drawn right here. >> reporter: just days after the president declined to meet with netanyahu in new york, the two leaders spoke over the phone. but then hours later romney, who enjoys a much friendlier relationship with netanyahu got his own call chatting with the israeli leader while sitting on a tarmac in philadelphia. it was a reminder of the power of the jewish-american vote in places like florida where vice president joe biden defted obama ease relationship with israel. >> i'm not going to talk about israel today. but i want to say one thing. i just want to tell you how proud i am, how proud i am to

stand shoulder-to-shoulder with a guy who has done more for israel's physical security than any president of the eight i've served with. >> reporter: switching gears to court the state's senior citizens, biden said romney's plan to lower taxes would force the nation's elderly to pick up the tab. >> their plan they have for social security, the one they have now, would raise taxes on your social security. >> reporter: romney, who has accused the president of misleading the public on the subject of taxes repeated his pledge on the issue. >> i will not raise taxes on middle income americans. >> reporter: less than one week from his debate with the president, romney is trying to expand the election map boldly predicting twice during his visit to pennsylvania that he can win here. >> you know, i've got a little secret here. and that is that obama campaign thinks pennsylvania's in their pocket. they don't need to worry about it. and you're right and they're wrong. we're going to win pennsylvania. we're going to take the white house. >> reporter: it could be a questionable move.

not only does romney have ground to make up in swing states like ohio and florida, the latest cnn poll of polls in pennsylvania shows romney trailing the president by ten points. republicans have tried but failed to win pennsylvania in recent presidential elections. just ask john mccain who made his own last-ditch effort. >> there's just one day left until we take america in a new direction. we need to win in pennsylvania tomorrow. with your help we will win. >> reporter: now, it's unclear what kind of resources romney would put into pennsylvania when asked whether the campaign would buy any ads here, romney aide said that is for the romney campaign to know and for the obama campaign to worry about. but getting back to that phone call, wolf, between romney and prime minister netanyahu, mitt romney just briefed reporters on his campaign plane just about half an hour ago about that conversation. he said netanyahu did talk about that red line on where he would try to draw a line on iran's

nuclear weapons program. and romney said he offered his own comments on the issue but wouldn't go into any greater detail than that. and also it's also interesting to note, wolf, romney was asked on the plane about any current assessments on how the president and how the white house is handling the diplomatic attacks in libya, the investigation into those diplomatic attacks, and romney said it would be premature to offer any new assessments on the issue. that's a stark contrast from the statement he put out a few weeks ago with that comment, wolf. >> yeah. it's better to be cautious and let others do the talking for him on the sensitive issues. they're doing a lot of talking. much more on this later on. jim, standby cht i want to go to the president right now. he's at a fundraiser at a hotel here in washington. i want to hear what he's saying briefly. >> we're creating thousands of jobs across the country as a result. and today the united states of america is less dependent on foreign oil than any time in nearly two decades.

so the choice is, do we build on this progress? or do we go with a plan that would reverse it? like my opponent's proposing. i do not believe in letting oil companies write this country's energy plan. i don't believe in endangering our coastlines or having them continue to collect another $4 billion in corporate welfare from our taxpayers. so we've got a better plan that keeps investing in wind and solar and clean coal technology and allows farmers and scientists to harness new biofuels to power cars and trucks. and developing a 100-year supply of natural gas. we do all that, we can cut our oil imports in half by 2020. it's good for the environment. it's good for the economy. it's good for our national security. that's what i mean when i say we need to go forward. that's what we're going to need to do. we need to give every american the chance to compete by making

sure we've got the best education system in the world. that's the reason i'm standing here today. that's the gateway of opportunity and the gateway of the middle class. and because of the work we've already done, millions of young people are better able to afford college already. and now we've got to do more by hiring 100,000 new math and science teachers. by making sure that we're providing millions of new slots for folks to retrain at community colleges for the jobs that exist right now. continue to lower tuition costs for students so they're not loaded up with debt once they graduate. my opponent thinks that it makes sense for us to gut our investment in education in order to give a tax break to the wealthy. i disagree. i think what the united states of america means is that no child should be deprived of a

good education. it means that no family should have to set aside a college acceptance letter just because they don't have the money. and no employer should have to look for workers with the right skills in china instead of the united states of america. i want us to focus on education. that's what we've been doing. that's what we're going to keep on doing in a second term when i'm president of the united states. >> all right. so you get a flavor of what the president's saying at a fundraiser. he's doing a few of these fundraisers here in washington today starting just a few moments ago. let's talk about what's going on. specifically pennsylvania right now. it's a handful of those so-called swing states expected to decide the presidential election. but is it really a swing state? is it closer than it looks as mitt romney is suggesting predicting today as you just heard in jim acosta's report that he will win pennsylvania? our senior political analyst,

ron brownstein is here with us in "the situation room." he's the editor of "the national journal." is pennsylvania realistically possible for mitt romney? the polls show right now a ten-point gap between these two men. >> it will be a very different race if pennsylvania is really in play. the fact it's not in play though is kind of instructive. right now president obama seems safely ahead in all of the polling. pennsylvania is actually the kind of state that mitt romney's promise a year ago he was going to be able to put into play the same way john mccain's promise was supposedly that. the reason why pennsylvania has become so solid democratic they've won in each of the past five elections is largely because the suburbs outside philadelphia, white collar, affluent, right of center economically, left of center social issues have moved decisively towards the democrats. originally mitt romney was seen as a candidate who could appeal to those voters. but he's not making many inroads there. as a result pennsylvania seems out of reach in any realistic scenario. >> he was doing some fund raising there. that may be the major reason while he's there although the aides are being a bit coy pretending they think it's

realistic to get the democrats that are spending so much there. wouldn't be the first time. >> we'll see if they put any television money or time in that. >> let's see if they put up there with some money. you've been taking a closer look at the so-called sun belt versus the rust belt swing states. what are you seeing? >> both of us started covering politics, presidential elections are almost decided in the rust belt, the behemoths of midwest, michigan, iowa, wisconsin, even pennsylvania, those states are still important. there's now a second group of swing states that are also emerging on the map. these are states in the sun belt, florida, virginia, north carolina, the southeast, colorado, new mexico in the southwest that had generally been reliablely republican being moved toward the democrats by a combination of more diversity, more minorities and more upscale whites. what's fascinating, wolf, is that when this election began it looked like president obama was better positioned in those sun belt swing states because they more reflect his national coalition, but in fact today he's doing better in those rust belt swing states which are more of a headache for romney because

the president is simply running better among the blue collar and older whites who are very prevalent in those states, he's running better in the midwest among those voters than he is anywhere else. >> is that in part because of the car industry? the auto industry he helped bailout gm and chrysler? >> clearly that's part. one, in other parts of the country are evangelical christians very strongly republican, less of a factor in the midwest, but certainly the auto bailout is important. and just the message. that is where the case that they have tried to make that mitt romney is not someone who gets your life, not someone who kind of understands what you're going through has probably has the most effect. and you really see it in the movement in the polls among blue collar women in places like iowa, wisconsin and ohio now moving to a point where obama is winning half or more of them. much better than his overall national number among those same democrats. >> so less than 40 days, what should each candidate be emphasizing right now so solidify their position? >> you know, i think romney's challenge is the same that it

has been. it's not so much convincing a majority of the country that barack obama has not been a success in his first term. there are certainly a large number of voters who either are disappointed or at best ambivalent about the results of his first term. what romney hasn't been able to do is convince him he would be a better alternative. in fact president obama's lead seems to me still to reside in a significant pool of voters, a slice of voters 5% or 6% of the electorate not satisfied with his first term but sticking with him because they don't believe romney offers a better alternative or understands their life. i think that is the overwhelming challenge for mitt romney in this debate. much more making the case than president obama. >> ron brownstein, thanks very much. >> thank you. next monday, the first monday in october, we're getting an important reminder. one of the least talked about issues of the campaign could turn out to be the most important. everyone has goals. take the steps to reach yours, with us

with real advice, for real goals. the us bank wealth management advisor can help you. every step of the way. from big steps, to little steps. since 1863 we've helped guide our clients, so they can take the steps to help grow, preserve, and pass along their wealth. so their footsteps can help the next generation find their own path. all of us serving you. us bank scroll... tap... pinch... and zoom... in your car. introducing the all-new cadillac xts with cue. ♪ don't worry. we haven't forgotten, you still like things to push. [ engine revs ] the all-new cadillac xts has arrived, and it's bringing the future forward. his morning starts with arthritis pain. and two pills.

afternoon's overhaul starts with more pain. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain. so, back to more pills. almost done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve. it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rudy. who switched to aleve. and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ [ female announcer ] and try aleve for relief from tough headaches. your soups are so awesomely delicious my husband and i can't stop eating 'em! what's...that... on your head? can curlers! tomato basil, potato with bacon... we've got a lot of empty cans. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

believe it or not next monday is the first monday in october. and that means the start of the new term for the united states supreme court and a docket full of important and very controversial cases. and just like on health care reform, the chief justice, john roberts, could be the wildcard. cnn's crime and justice correspondent joe johns is here in "the situation room" taking a closer look at what we can expect. it's going to be an important series of cases. >> a very important series of cases. and, wolf, at the beginning of the new session the supreme court is going to be watched very closely for signs of strain between the justices or anything else that suggests things may have changed since the health care ruling which was arguably the biggest opinion by the court

since bush versus gore more than a decade ago. right after the supreme court's health care decision in june, chief justice john roberts joked to colleagues that he would find an island fortress to escape the political heat. here's how justice ruth bader ginsburg described the eventful spring. >> the term has been more than usually taxing. some have called it the term of the century. >> reporter: now three months later the court is back and there are no signs of it cooling down. >> the justices are moving from the frying pan right into the fire. they are tackling some of the most difficult legal questions of the day. across the board probably the biggest term in at least a decade. >> reporter: cases involving the contentious issues of affirmative action, same sex marriage, voting rights and abortion are all likely to come up this term which kicks off monday. >> there's some very exciting cases already on the docket. there's a lot more in the pipeline that may -- the court's going to be making a decision on

soon. >> reporter: another set of big decisions will bring even more scrutiny on the chief justice. rumors surfaced that the health care ruling he authored caused a personal rift with conservative colleagues including justice scalia. he denied that to cnn's piers morgan. >> no, i didn't have a falling out. >> loud words exchanged? >> no. >> nothing like that? >> nothing like that. >> reporter: the other big question, will the chief justice take the court in an aggressive new direction? liberals fear a more hard line shift to the right. >> a lot of progressives are concerned that this might mean that chief justice roberts has built up some capitol, some good will, and now will push the conservative agenda. >> reporter: tom goldstein who has argued before the court thinks he'll do it gradually. >> he's not trying to move the law radically quickly. i think justice scalia or justice thomas really want to

get to the end answer as quickly as possible and make the law conform to what they really understand. whereas the chief justice is more incrementalist. >> reporter: but conservative court watcher doesn't believe anything will change any time soon. >> certainly this is not a crusading conservative court. until we have a shift i think in the membership of the court, it's impossible to call it a court that leans more to the left or to the right. >> and, wolf, for those opinions that could be close five-to-four decisions close attention will also be paid to justice kennedy who is frequently the swing vote in some of the toughest cases. >> going to be some very important cases coming up. joe, thanks very, very much. let's dig a bit deeper right now with our senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin. his new book entitled "the oath" debuts this week at number five on the "new york times" best seller list. congratulations, jeff. good work. excellent book. hope a lot of people buy the book, a lot more.

but you're doing well already. let's talk about what's going on. what do you expect to see in the coming weeks and months as this new term gets ready? >> well, i think the affirmative action case out of the university of texas is really a huge case. it's in part a huge chase just for practical implications. may a university consider race in admitting students? this is an -- a question that the court answered in 2003 in justice o'connor's famous opinion out of the university of michigan law school. but the court is a different court. the replacement of justice o'connor by justice so le do has had a profound impact especially on civil rights cases. and i think it's entirely possible the court may limit or even overrule justice o'connor's opinion getting rid of racial preferences more and more. >> so this is a case involving a state university, a public university. so if they decide that affirmative action giving a

preference to certain students based on race for example is unconstitutional, would it also automatically apply to private universities that get federal aid, for example? >> not automatically. but this is the way the court works is that they decide one case at a time. and they establish principles that are later applied or not applied. each case can be somewhat different. but if they say that a university which is a part of the state may not consider race, that race is simply impermissib impermissible, you can be sure that that message will filter out not just through universities but also to employers and to the government. it could be an enormous change. we'll only deal with public universities this term. >> let me read to you from your column you wrote on cnn.com. very provocative but important as well. with a little more than a month to go, it's not too late to ask the candidates to take a stand on their plans for the court.

what does obama, a former law professor, think about the court? by the same token, what kind of justices would romney appoint? who are his judicial role models? it's very important to take a look at who they would name. there could be one, maybe even two vacancies over the next four years that could impact a decision of the court for the next 30 or 40 years. >> you know, wolf, there are four justices in their 70s. ruth bader ginsburg is the oldest at 79. justice kennedy and scalia are 76. justice spryer 74. they have tended to come in bunches. president obama had two appointees. george w. bush had two appointees. bill clinton had two. but there could be a bunch in a hurry. justice ginsburg is the most likely to leave. and if president obama wins, that wouldn't change the balance of five republicans and four

democrats. but if the five-to-four balance shifts, you could see dramatic dramatic changes in the court. it all depends on who leaves. >> do you simply assume president obama would name someone like sonja sot ma yor or clarence thomas for that matter? can you just assume those would be the possibilities, the probabilities if you will? >> that is precisely what i would assume. you know, there's a mythology about the court that presidents often are surprised by how their justices turn out. but you know, that is very much the exception rather than the rule. if you look at the justices currently on the court right now, every single one of them has turned out more or less as predicted. sure there are individual cases, there are surprises. i certainly was surprised by chief justice roberts' vote in the affordable care act case. but by and large presidents what you see is what you get. and when you elect the president, you wind up electing

like minded supreme court justice. >> jeffrey toobin is the author of "the oath" a "new york times" best seller. not a huge surprise. an excellent book. >> thanks, wolf. many of you complained and apple is now listening. why the ceo admits to letting customers down and suggests you use his rival software instead. c osteoarthritis pain. imagine living your life with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported.

signs include abdominal pain and yellowing skin or eyes. tell your doctor about all your medicines, including those for migraine and while on cymbalta, call right away if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles or serious allergic skin reactions like blisters, peeling rash, hives, or mouth sores to address possible life-threatening conditions. talk about your alcohol use, liver disease and before you reduce or stop cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. ask your doctor about cymbalta. imagine you with less pain. cymbalta can help. go to cymbalta.com to learn about a free trial offer. the good they did inspires us,

prepares us and guides us. at new york life, everything we do is to help you keep good going. romney: "it's time to stand up to the cheaters" vo: tough on china? not mitt romney. when a flood of chinese tires threatened a thousand american jobs... it was president obama who stood up to china and protected american workers. mitt romney attacked obama's decision... said standing up to china was "bad for the nation and our workers." how can mitt romney take on the cheaters... when he's taking their side? ♪ [ male announcer ] introducing a stunning work of technology. introducing the entirely new lexus es. and the first-ever es hybrid.

this is the pursuit of perfection. and get outstanding deals with the travelocity fall hotel sale. you can save up to 40% on select hotels. so book your hotel now and save up to 40%. hurry, offer ends soon. book now at travelocity. prisoners clash with guards at a dramatic jailbreak in northern iraq. lisa sylvester's monitoring that, some of the other top stories in "the situation room" right now. lisa, what happened? >> hi, wolf. thety of tikrit remains under lock down. they set off car bombs and overtook guards and stole their weapons. this is the aftermath of a riot at the prison in the attack last year. it lasted for several hours.

a joke by "the onion" apparently fooled a news agency. the agency printed a fake poll saying would prefer ahmadinejad over president obama. iran's foreign news agency published it today days after it appeared in the onion, it has now been removed. apple issued a raree iing error service. ceo tim cook says in a statement "we strive to make world class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. with the launch of our new maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. we are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers. and we are doing everything we can to make it better." he's also suggesting using alternatives in the meantime, even google maps on the web. apple doesn't make many missteps, but that was a big

one. a lot of people were complaining. >> that one should not have gotten through quality control. what they were too busy rushing the product? they couldn't check their own maps? >> i don't know. it's a big one. when you talk about customer satisfaction, people want to go where they need to go and they rely on that map service. >> certainly do. thanks very much, lisa. in today's strategy session we're taking a closer look at whether the obama administration's conflicting explanations about the attack on the u.s. consulate in libya could become a political problem for the president. with the spark cash card from capital one, sven's home security gets the most rewards of any small business credit card! how does this thing work?

oh, i like it! [ garth ] sven's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! woo-hoo!!! so that's ten security gators, right? put them on my spark card! why settle for less? testing hot tar... great businesses deserve the most rewards! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? here's your invoice. how did i get here? dumb luck? or good decisions? ones i've made. ones we've all made. about marriage. children. money. about tomorrow. here's to good decisions. who matters most to you says the most about you.

massmutual is owned by our policyholders so they matter most to us. massmutual. we'll help you get there. and the candidate's speech is in pieces all over the district. the writer's desktop and the coordinator's phone are working on a joke with local color. the secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategist's tablet. and while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center... working together has never worked so well. wanted to provide better employee benefits while balancing the company's bottom line, their very first word was... [ to the tune of "lullaby and good night" ] ♪ af-lac ♪ aflac [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. [ yawning sound ] wthe future of our medicare andr electiosocial security. for... man 1: i want facts. straight talk. tell me your plan...

and what it means for me. woman 2: i'm tired of the negative ads and political spin. that won't help me decide. man 2: i earned my medicare and social security. and i deserve some answers. anncr: where do the candidates stand on issues that... affect seniors today and in the future? find out with the aarp voters' guide at earnedasay.org ♪ [ male announcer ] every car we build must make adrenaline pump and pulses quicken. ♪ to help you not just to stay alive... but feel alive. the new c class is no exception. it's a mercedes-benz through and through. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services.

the u.s. intelligence community now officially publicly says this month's attack on the united states consulate in benghazi was a deliberate and organized terrorist assault carried out by extremists affiliated or sympathetic with al qaeda, a flat statement just issued. let's discuss the political fallout in our strategy session. joining us now, the democratic strategist and cnn political contributor donna brazile, along with david frum, contributing editor at "the daily beast" and "newsweek." david, a powerful statement just released by the director of national intelligence. it totally contradicts what the administration was saying in the days that immediately followed the killing of ambassador stevens and the three other americans. what do you make of this? >> totally supports what my colleague reported three days ago who was the first with this story. what it makes is the american ambassador dead, the administration's first impulse was to find ways to cover itself

and avoid acknowledging the mistake the ambassador had completely inadequate security in a dangerous place. and it did that by pitting on this youtube video of the maker on his way to prison and charged under other offenses. in order to offset the blame for its own failure to protect america's am boss dor. it's disturbing. really disturbing. >> the republicans, donna, not surprisingly they are really going after the president right now on this specific issue. listen to eric fehrnstrom, senior advisor to mitt romney. >> well, i think president obama, bill, needs to be held accountable for his administration's attempts to mislead the american people about what happened in benghazi. >> and they're repeatedly referring to statements that jay carney made at the white house, that hillary clinton made at the state department, that the u.s. ambassador susan rice made on five sunday talk shows here in the united states. they're making this a big issue. does it have political legs as

they say? >> well, first of all, i wouldn't be surprised the romney administration -- i mean the romney team make hay out of anything. look, they're looking for an issue. and they're the last people that we should hear from on foreign policy given all of the missteps that mitt romney has made. but look, wolf, beyond the political nature of this whole inquiry, we need to look at the fact that al qaeda leaders posted a video a day before the attack on september 10th which mr. alvarez wa ri wanted to avenge the death of one of his deputies in libya. he called upon libyans to, you know, try to provoke unrest. so look i think one of the things we should do right now is to let congress -- members of congress investigate this. they will investigate this. senator kerry along with senator has sent a letter to the

administration answering very important questions that i think the american people will want to know. on the short end of this, i doubt very seriously that the administration will try to mislead the american people at a time when as we all know that this administration has been hunting down al qaeda leaders all throughout the middle east and northern africa as well. >> i don't know if you heard, david, mike huckaby suggests this could be worse than watergate. watergate he points out no one was killed. here four americans were killed. he's suggesting there was a cover-up. >> well, there was certainly a lot of rear end covering. that's for sure. that seems to be the administration's first imperative after the death of ambassador stevens. but here's why i think this will have political power. the economy obviously issue one in this election. but national security is issue two. president obama was elected in great part because of his promise to change america's relationship with the rest of the world. he made a point of this. his very first tv interview ago being inaugurated with the

network and traveled to cairo in june of 2009. didn't go to israel on that same trip as would seem logical. in order to send a message but how he was doing a reset of america's relationship with the muslim world. and he had an attitude of great confidence that he in his own person would somehow transform everything. that may have been one of the reasons that there was kind of some sloppiness of the situation in libya that the administration did not take serious enough. >> there's going to be full scale investigations as donna points out. the state department, congress, a lot of people will be investigating certainly the news media will continue to investigate as well. i want both of you to standby. we're going to continue this conversation. i'm also going to ask about some eye opening new comparisons of mitt romney's favorability ratings with former president george w. bush. all energy development comes with some risk,

but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today. domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... ♪ (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line,

infinite possibilities. i i had pain in my abdomen...g. it just wouldn't go away. i was spotting, but i had already gone through menopause. these symptoms may be nothing... but they could be early warning signs of a gynecologic cancer, such as cervical, ovarian, or uterine cancer. feeling bloated for no reason. that's what i remember. seeing my doctor probably saved my life. warning signs are not the same for everyone. if you think something's wrong... see your doctor. ask about gynecologic cancer. and get the inside knowledge.

let's get back out to donna brazile and david frum. look at these bloomberg news national poll numbers. favorability ratings, george w. bush, former president, 46%. mitt romney 43%, joe biden 43% which raised the question in my mind, david, maybe you want to tackle it. we see a lot of bill clinton out there campaigning for president obama. george w. bush mia right now on the campaign trail. is it because he doesn't want to campaign for mitt romney or mitt romney doesn't want bush campaigning for him? >> well, i have to assume it's because the former president bush does not want to. because there are things he could very usefully do. he remains a controversial figure. a lot of americans blame him for the economic crisis.

so it would be most likely unwise to have him on a big stage doing big rallies. but he could be a powerful fundraiser. one of the challenges that mitt romney has had is he's spending a lot of time still raising money in person. the very biggest donors want to see their candidate. but they would be just as happy or almost as happy with the former president as they would be with a possible future president. if george bush were doing those events, that would be a great load off mitt romney's shoulders. >> what do you think, donna, on this? you're a close observer. i want to point out, biden's favorability 42%, not 43%. there's the right number right there. why aren't we seeing george w. bush in a similar way we're seeing president clinton out there? >> because i'm sure he doesn't want to be a distraction in this campaign. but i have to tell you i was with karl rove the other day in wyoming. karl rove and many of his other key lieutenants are out there raising money for mitt romney, raising money for the republican party. ed gillespie's a senior advisor,

and jeb bush is out there helping mitt romney. laura bush i believe helped the other day. so while president bush is not out there personally, his surrogates are, his wife, his brother. and of course many of his top lieutenants from his administration. >> david, there's a debate emerging now on whether paul ryan, the vice presidential nominee, has actually helped romney's efforts to win the white house or wound up hurting romney's efforts to win the white house. where do you see it? >> well, i've been a big alarmist on the ryan question from the beginning. i thought it was a mistake to choose him. i thought it was a mistake even before choosing him to bolt this campaign to the ryan plan. the romney campaign needs to be about jobs and growth. the decision to make this campaign about medicare and medicaid which is what you do when you adopt the ryan plan much less put ryan on the ticket is a big mistake. i think the campaign is really suffering for it. >> you think democrats down ballot as they say, senatorial candidates, congressional candidates, are happy, donna,

that paul ryan is on the ticket with romney? >> absolutely. he gives definition to what the republicans actually stand for. i mean, basically they want to, you know, create another system for medicare. and as president obama and the vice president today spoke out also about social security. so democrats are along the ryan budget plan. by putting him on the ticket i think the republicans took a huge risk because they have to explain exactly what his budget would do to domestic program and future growth. and of course many people understand that the ryan plan it doesn't add up. the math is just not there. >> i looked, david, at the president's schedule today, president obama's schedule. he's here in washington, d.c. 9:45 he received a presidential daily brief, met with senior advisors at 10:15. 4:20, which now he's out there on the campaign trail. he's got an efbt at 4:20, 6:05, another campaign fund raising event, one at 8:25 tonight. but he had until 4:00 basically

he was in the white house, as you know, benjamin netanyahu's been in new york all day. i'm told if he'd gotten a call to come on down to washington at the white house, he would have been on a plane to washington. what do you think about all this? >> it's amazing. it's amazing that the president not only didn't choose to talk to benjamin netanyahu -- >> they did speak on the phone. >> but he didn't choose to be visible with him. the big part of why you do these kinds of meetings in person is to show the world you are consulting people. and i just try to imagine back during the bush years when there was so much accusations that president bush was high handed and isolated that if he voluntarily said i'm not going to meet anybody, what would people have said? >> donna. >> as you know, wolf, i'm one that believes actions speak louder than words. since coming into office president obama has committed more than $1 billion to israel's security. this president has strong cooperation, strong -- has built

a strong alliance with the state of israel. israel is very important. i have to believe that the white house made a strategic decision not to hold any meetings but to continue to speak out and stand firmly where we are now as it relates to iran. so that's where i'm putting a lot of my emphasis. not on who sat down who are had a one-on-one, who had coffee, who had tea. where do we stand on iran getting a nuclear weapon? the president has been firm that iran will not get a nuclear weapon. >> donna brazile, david frum, guys, thanks very much. a ride to school literally turned onto its side for dozens of middle school students. we'll tell you what happened when we come back. ♪ [ male announcer ] every car we build must make adrenaline pump and pulses quicken. ♪ to help you not just to stay alive... but feel alive. the new c class is no exception. it's a mercedes-benz through and through.

see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services. through mercedes-benz when we got married. i had three kids. and she became the full time mother of three. it was soccer, and ballet, and cheerleading, and baseball. those years were crazy. so, as we go into this next phase, you know, a big part of it for us is that there isn't anything on the schedule.

dozens of children are hurt in a school bus accident in kentucky. lisa's back. she's monitoring that story and some of the other top stories in "the situation room" right now. what happened? >> hi there, wolf. well, the bus filled with middle school students collided with a mustang at this louisville intersection and rolled on its side. you can see it there. 50 people were taken to the hospital including three people in the mustang. none of the students was seriously hurt. that's the good news. officials say wet roads and speed may have played a factor. and bank of america has agreed to pay more than $2.4 billion to settle class action lawsuit over its acquisition of merrill lynch. investors sued in 2009 claiming the bank misled them over the financial health of both companies prior to the merger. bank of america denied the allegations but said it agreed to settle to avoid an expensive legal battle. and kids in new orleans have a new place to play thanks to rapper -- wolf blitzer favorite rapper, lil' wayne. he opened a new ecofriendly

skate park in his hometown this week. it's in the lower ninth ward, one of the hardest hit areas during katrina. it was built using recycled material and runs on solar energy. we all know now, wolf blitzer, you are a fan of lil' wayne. >> that's right. for all the viewers who tuned in yesterday, you corrected me on that, wolf. >> once corrected brooke baldwin who kept calling rihanna riha a rihanna. >> it's good to know that one too. >> you're not the first cnn person i corrected on the air. >> from now i'm just going to call you lil' wolf. >> thanks, lil' lisa. a woman thought she stumbled on a rare find at a flea market. she bought this for $7, planned to sell it to the highest bidder. why the fbi is now saying not so fast.

when you take a closer look... ...at the best schools in the world... ...you see they all have something very interesting in common. they have teachers...

...with a deeper knowledge of their subjects. as a result, their students achieve at a higher level. let's develop more stars in education. let's invest in our teachers... ...so they can inspire our students. let's solve this. and the candidate's speech is in pieces all over the district. the writer's desktop and the coordinator's phone are working on a joke with local color. the secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategist's tablet. and while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center... working together has never worked so well. [ "the odd couple" theme playing ] humans. even when we cross our "t"s

and dot our "i"s, we still run into problems -- mainly other humans. at liberty mutual insurance, we understand. that's why our auto policies come with accident forgiveness if you qualify, where your rates won't go up due to your first accident, and new car replacement, where if you total your new car, we give you the money for a new one. call... to talk to an insurance expert about everything else that comes standard with our base auto policy. [ tires squeal ] and if you get into an accident and use one of our certified repair shops, your repairs are guaranteed for life. call... to switch, and you could save hundreds. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? ...and we inspected his brakes for free. -free is good. -free is very good. [ male announcer ] now get 50% off brake pads and shoes at meineke.

a stunning development to a story that made big headlines. this painting sold for $7 at a west virginia flea market. it was supposed to be sold to the highest bidder tomorrow, but the auction's been canceled and now the fbi is in on the case. our brian todd explains. >> wolf, this is the sadie may room of the baltimore art. she was a well-known donor, a patron of the arts in baltimore. she lent a painting to this museum many decades ago. in 1951 that painting was stolen from this museum, the circumstances around that are not clear. but it made its way somehow from 1951 to a flea market in west virginia a couple of years ago where it was sold for $7 where it was actually bought at a flea

market with just some other kind of trin kwets in a box. it is worth up to or possibly over $100,000. and we're here with the director of the baltimore museum of art. can you tell us how you think it made its way from being stolen here in 1951 to being sold in west virginia at a flea market. >> it's a bigamist ri. of course we may never know the course of the painting. we didn't have computers, we didn't have digital images. things were recorded by hand on index cards, things were mimeographed or carbon paper. very different from how we record information today. so we'll be very lucky, i think, to find out the whole story. >> well, good luck in trying to find that story. and thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> the museum is working with the fbi and others to try to piece together what happened to

the painting, how it made that journey. then they're going to have to determine custody of it, wolf. whether it belongs to the museum, the es sate of sadie mae or the woman who bought it at a flea market in west virginia. that woman wants to remain anonymous. that's being investigated right now. we're going to hopefully determine how a painting bought for $7 in west virginia now worth about $100,000 at least a renoir painting determining now who gets custody of that painting, wolf. >> brian todd, thank you. and you're in "the situation room." happening now, first on cnn, a startling new intelligence timeline on the attack that killed the united states ambassador and three other americans in libya. also, what we're just finding out about fbi agents trying to get access to the crime scene. and a rare move for president obama during this week's controversial referee lockout. ahead, why it may have earned him new points out there on the political scoreboard.

and the world's top diplomat pranked. the united nations secretary general receives some unwanted advances in a bizarre phone call. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." but first, this just coming into "the situation room," a story you'll see first only here on cnn. the u.s. intelligence community coming out with a new timeline of events that led to the death of ambassador chris stevens and three other americans in libya. and word of a possible split between the u.s. intelligence agencies and the white house over who knew what and when. let's get straight to cnn intelligence correspondent suzanne kelly and cnn national security contributor, former bush homeland security advisor who's also joining us, fran townsend. she's a member of the cia's external advisory committee. last month she visited libya with her employer.

suzanne, first to you. what are we learning? what are you hearing from your sources about what's going on in this investigation? >> wolf, it's really extraordinary. this is really the first and fullest explanation we've gotten publicly anyway from the intelligence community about what it knew and when it knew it. i want to read to you the u.s. intelligence community says based on new information they have collected that the attack appears to be a deliberate and organized terrorist assault carried out by extremists affiliated or sympathetic with al qaeda. now, that's from sean turner, who is the director of communication for the offices of the director of national intelligence. it really kind of takes all the steam out of the back and forth we've heard about whether or not there was a protest ahead of this attack, whether it was spontaneous as we heard people from the administration say just as recently as sunday on some of the sunday talk shows. and i think, wolf, what you're seeing really is the frustration of the intelligence community of having this investigation turned into something of a political toy really if you will a few weeks before the election. >> why did it take so long to come to this conclusion? which a lot of folks assumed was

the case right from the beginning occurring on the anniversary of 9/11 and stuff like this doesn't necessarily happen spontaneously because it's got to be pretty well planned if people are coming in with heavy weapons. now they've concluded as you say a deliberate and organized terrorist assault. why did it take so long since 9/11 for this to happen? >> well, wolf, i think it's fair to say that there are a lot of people here in washington who would like to throw their opinion in as soon as they get little tidbits of information about something like this. they sort of come up with their own ideas of what happened. but the intelligence community as fran will tell you can't work that way. they have to take information they have, they can prove, they can verify, they know where they got it from, and put those pieces together until the full picture comes out and that doesn't happen on the american timeline -- >> i understand that completely. but what i don't understand is why top officials in the obama administration were saying the exact opposite, that it was spontaneous, it just happened, it was a result of this

14-minute trailer. that's what i don't understand. i can understand you don't know what happened. you say we don't know, we're investigating, we'll get back to you. but they came out repeatedly with statements whether it was the u.s. ambassador to the united nations, the secretary of the state, even the president of the united states, certainly jay carney, they were saying something very, very different when they clearly didn't know what the investigation was leading to. >> that's right. and i think that what we saw and what you hear from the administration now is that, well, the people out there were giving caveats. they were saying based on this initial information. right now, wolf, it doesn't look like that's really all they had to go on. because the intelligence community and i think that's why you see the statement today is there's growing frustration about what they knew and people coming out speaking on behalf of the administration that maybe they knew something different. >> you want to weigh-in on this sfl. >> we knew, wolf, from a senior law enforcement official who spoke to me that said we knew within the first 24 hours was this is a terrorist attack. i think what you're seeing is law enforcement, intelligence, real frustration by the career professionals wlo say we're working this, we knew it was a

terrorism investigation and that's how we proceeded on this. and they don't want to get caught up in the politics of a presidential election. >> because the argument that a lot of republicans and some others are making is that for political reasons the obama administration downplayed this notion of this being an act of terror, pre-planned, any association with al qaeda. they were just wanting to show it's not happening on the president's watch. and they couldn't be blamed for this, if you will, the shotty if you will security that was at that consulate in benghazi. >> wolf, it may take some weeks now to get to the bottom of that. and whether or not that was -- it was dick kated by politics the initial response. we see today senator john kerry, a democrat in the senate asking the right questions. these are questions that others members of the senate and house are also asking. so i think you ought to expect we will see extensive hearings and investigation on this. >> now, you reported earlier in the week that fbi agents who have been sent to libya to investigate, they still have not been able to get to the scene of

this terrorist action in benghazi. they're basically holed up hundreds of miles away in tripoli, the capital. you have new information? >> that's right, wolf. so you've got a handful -- you've got some fbi agents in tripoli waiting to deploy out to benghazi. you've got dozens of other fbi agents in countries -- in third countries waiting visas to get into libya to be able to go to benghazi. i will tell you, wolf, talking to law enforcement officials as recently as this afternoon, it's been today's day 18 since the attack. and the point made to me, we may not even go now. what would be the point? what are we going to learn there? and how tragic is that? we've lost four americans including the united states ambassador, and the investigators who are responsible for drawing conclusions may never have gotten to the scene of this horrendous crime. >> so who messed up here based on what you're hearing? >> you know, wolf, i go back to my own experience in the white house. you often see interagency rivalries and disagreements about did the security conditions permit? what's the timing? what's the security requirement

to get them out there? but that's the role frankly of the white house homeland security advisor, john brennan. we've seen john brennan come out after the bin laden raid. frankly in response to the underwear bomber and all these other terrorist attacks, it's really odd. we've seen no -- we have not seen him present publicly at all or speak publicly at all. and he's really the president's most senior substantive advisor on these sorts of issues. frankly, i don't know what role he has played. but it's a fair question, why isn't he talking publicly about it? and what is the role he's tried to play to try to resolve some of these disputes that have clearly hampered the intelligence community and law enforcement. >> lots of explaining is needed. guys, thanks very much for that new information. meanwhile, another disturbing development unfolding right now this involving the worsening crisis in syria. leon panetta revealing that u.s. intelligence shows syria has moved some of its chemical weapons for security purposes. it's a red line that the president has warned the country

against crossing. let's get straight to our pentagon correspondent barbara starr. she's got the latest. what do we know now, barbara? >> well, wolf, defense secretary panetta a little bit unexpectedly getting right into the latest intelligence, what he knows and what he doesn't know about syria's chemical weapons. a top syrian opposition group claims it captured these missiles in damascus and said they had been adapted to carry chemical and biological warheads. cnn cannot independently confirm the claim. but now a new admission from defense secretary leon panetta. syria's chemical weapons have been on the move. and he's not sure what exactly has happened. >> there has been intelligence that there have been some moves that have taken place. where exactly that's taken place, we don't know. >> reporter: panetta insists that bashar al assad's forces still control the major chemical

and biological sites, but there are security concerns. >> there has been some intelligence that with regards to some of these sites that there's been some movement in order to -- for the syrians to better secure what they -- the chemicals. >> reporter: rebels clearly are making a public play that they can get to the weapons. on this video a narrater points to satellite imagery of what he says is a chemical weapons warehouse in damascus and a tunnel that connects the warehouse to a military airport. the video cannot be independently confirmed. panetta knows rebels are on the hunt. he doesn't know if they have succeeded. >> i don't have any specific information about the opposition and whether or not they've obtained some of this or how much they've obtained. and just exactly what's taken place.

>> reporter: president obama has said a tight lid must stay on the syrian arsenal. >> we have been very clear to the assad regime but also to other players on the ground that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. that would change my calculus. >> reporter: concerns about the weapons, recent bombings of government buildings in damascus and stepped up fighting all underscoring the rebels are taking the fight to the regime's power centers. and any position, any ability of the rebels to get their hands on the chemical or biological weapons would certainly set off alarm bells if there is a complete breakdown of the syrian regime and lack of security. the worries even expand further into groups like hezbollah or al qaeda getting their hands on this stuff. it's a growing worry, wolf. >> a red line in syria as well. all right. thanks very much, barbara, for

that. syria by the way is also center stage at the united nations today with the secretary of state hillary clinton announced millions of dollars in additional funding for the syrian opposition. cnn's foreign affairs correspondent jill dougherty is in new york watching this part of the story. jill, what happened? >> reporter: wolf, secretary of state hillary clinton had a sober assessment, conditions in syria she said continue to deteriorate. and attempts to move forward at the united nations have been blocked repeatedly. but she said they have to move forward. in new york for the u.n. general assembly, key nations of the friends of syria group strike that jazzed once again on how to give more help to the syrian opposition. secretary of state hillary clinton announcing another $15 million bringing the total to almost $45 million for what she called the unarmed opposition. >> that translates into more than 1,100 sets of communication

equipment including satellite linked computers, telephones and cameras as well as training for more than 1,000 activists, students and independent journalists. >> they tell us that there is a common heartbeat to humanity. >> reporter: the obama administration still insists it's just a matter of time before the regime of syrian president bashar al assad falls. but a senior state department official concedes none of this is happening as quickly as we would like. when and if assad goes, officials say it's crucial the opposition be ready to take over. [ gunfire ] representatives of revolutionary councils attended the meeting. their names kept secret because many must return to their war torn country. others from so-called local councils being set up to run municipal affairs in liberated areas need help getting organized as well as communicating with each other and the outside world.

>> i'm announcing an additional $30 million to help get food, water, blankets and critical medical services to people suffering under the relentless assaults. >> reporter: u.s. humanitarian assistance now totals more than $130 million. so far 350,000 refugees have fled to neighboring countries. as many as 1.5 million people are displaced within syria. the friends of syria meeting also discussed how to increase pressure on the assad regime including financial sanctions. but the most senior officials so far to defect from the regime tells cnn's christiane amanpour, he draws a line outside military action to bring down assad. >> i don't think there should be any foreign intervention in syria. we feel when it comes to the super powers, there's no political will. >> reporter: secretary clinton

came down hard on iran calling it syria's most important lifeline and noting that iranian revolutionary guards personnel are operating inside syria there is no longer any doubt she says that tehran will do whatever it takes to protect its proxy in damascus. wolf. >> jill dougherty, thank you. over in afghanistan a cnn exclusive. we're going to take you inside the mind of a man in jail right now for planning to become a suicide bomber. also, separating fact from fiction when it comes to obama care. our own dr. sanjay gupta goes in depth.

i'm barack obama and i approve this message. romney: "it's time to stand up to the cheaters" vo: tough on china? not mitt romney. when a flood of chinese tires threatened a thousand american jobs... it was president obama who stood up to china and protected american workers. mitt romney attacked obama's decision... said standing up to china was "bad for the nation and our workers." how can mitt romney take on the cheaters... when he's taking their side?

next wednesday we'll see the first debate between president obama and his republican challenger mitt romney. health care's on the short list of hot button issues. devil often in the details. our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta goes in depth with a closer look at what's at stake. >> reporter: since president obama's health care law was

enacted, 3.1 million people under the age of 26 are now covered by their parents' plans. and preventive care is covered 100% by insurance companies. seniors in particular center benefitted under prescription drugs. >> seniors who fall in the coverage gap known as the donut hole will start getting some help. they'll receive $250 to help pay for prescriptions. and that will over time fill in the donut hole. >> reporter: 5.5 million seniors have saved a total of $4.5 billion since the law was enacted. he also plans to slow spending on medicare. >> i have strengthened medicare. we've added years to the life of medicare. we did it by getting rid of taxpayers subsidies to insurance companies that weren't making people healthier. >> reporter: by 2014 the law requires everyone to have health insurance whether they purchase it themselves or through their employer.

and insurers can't deny you if you have a pre-existing condition or increase your rates. the law has become a cornerstone of the obama campaign. >> i refuse to eliminate health insurance for millions of americans who are poor and elderly or disabled all so those with the most can pay less. >> reporter: but romney says the affordable care act is unaffordable. >> we know that health care's too expensive. obama care doesn't make it less expensive. >> reporter: he wants obama care gone. including the prescription drug benefit for seniors. but he does want to keep one of the most popular pieces of obama care, although he doesn't say exactly how his plan will work. >> we have to make sure people who have pre-existing conditions are able to get insure and had that folks that get sick don't get dropped by their insurance company. >> reporter: romney and his running mate, paul ryan, propose to cap malpractice insurance, cut medicaid by $810 billion over the next ten years, give states more control over their

medicaid funds, overhaul medicare. the overhaul, people now younger than 55 when they reach retirement would have the option of getting a voucher to purchase private insurance or they could stick with traditional medicare. >> this financial support system is designed to guarantee that seniors can always afford medicare coverage no exceptions. >> there are a lot of differences, wolf, between the two plans. medicaid is probably something that's not discussed as much. but then there's about 60 million people out there very dependent on medicaid, one in five adults, one in three children. so they're paying a lot of attention to this, wolf. >> they certainly are. so let's talk a little bit about medicaid, what's going on as far as who qualifies under the new rules. how would the affordable care act, obama care as it's called, impact all of this? >> yeah. well, you know, keep in mind again medicare is for the elderly. medicaid often for people who are either poor or disabled. with obama care one of the ideas of ensuring more people was to

expand medicaid. and the way they do that is they raise the level at which somebody can qualify. so you can qualify more easily for medicaid. now as you know, wolf, we talked about this quite a bit, the states have the option of whether or not they want to expand medicaid and take additional money from the federal government or not. and the federal government would put in money and the states would put in money. so not all the states are opting into that. that's what the big changes are under obama care. an expansion of medicaid is sort of the plan, wolf. >> what are the romney and ryan plans for medicaid as far as they're concerned? >> i think the best way to characterize it is they want to treat medicaid more like block grants. so the federal government would give money and the states would really retain all the control of what exactly to do with that money. they also over time and as you know, wolf, sometimes the math is hard to predict or project, but over ten years they want to take out about $800 billion out of that federal money that's going to the states. and that's part of how the romney/ryan plan is cutting

costs, they say. >> so seniors who are recipients of medicaid, sanjay, how will they be impacted? >> you know, wolf, i see this as a physician quite a bit. you imagine the senior person over 65 who's also poor and now needs nursing home care or needs long-term care. not somebody who's been in a hospital for a long time, but somebody who now needs nursing home care. those are the people probably going to be the most impacted because a lot of people pay attention to this. but medicare doesn't cover a lot of that type of nursing home care or long-term care. so those people are what are known as dually eligible. eligible for medicare and get their nursing home care paid in part by medicaid. if medicaid goes down, shrinks or goes away in some of these places, those people will be affected the most in all this, wolf. >> sanjay, excellent explanation. a lot of our viewers watching right now very, very interested in what's going on on this front. i'm sure it will be a subject during these three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate as well.

appreciate it very much. meanwhile, new documents released in the aurora theater massacre. we're now learning the accused shootder, james holmes, was barred from his college campus. that's not all. latest when we come back. but i had already gone through menopause. these symptoms may be nothing... but they could be early warning signs of a gynecologic cancer, such as cervical, ovarian, or uterine cancer. feeling bloated for no reason. that's what i remember. seeing my doctor probably saved my life. warning signs are not the same for everyone. if you think something's wrong... see your doctor. ask about gynecologic cancer. and get the inside knowledge.

new information unsealed today about a deadly shooting spree. lisa sylvester's back and monitoring that and other storying in "the situation room" right now. what did we learn? >> there are new documents that shed light into july's deadly colorado theater shooting. james holmes was banned from the university campus after threatening someone weeks before the shooting. the defense denies those claims. these documents also confirm holmes sent a package containing

a notebook to his psychiatrist. the contents of the book are now sealed. the rampage during a screening of "the dark knight rises" left 12 people dead and 58 wounded. now fallen chinese politician bo xi has been tripped of his duties. found bo responsible for severe mistakes including peddling, bribery and womanizing. he was once considered a rising political star. and 19 people were killed in the crash of a plane carrying them through a staging point for mt. everest expeditions. the flight crashed after striking an eagle. no one survived that crash. and officials have recovered the flight data recorder. afp reports a french reports says investigators will try to

identify the photographer and whether or not a crime was committed. meanwhile, a royal spokesman says there will not be a complaint over nude photos of prince harry partying in vegas. he says it would be a distraction for the prince who is deployed in afghanistan. so i know the pictures particularly of the duchess, i mean, that's really disturbing for the royal family. hopefully they'll have some answers on how those photos even got out in the first place, wolf. >> yeah. let's hope the prince is okay in afghanistan. he's under military deployment there. thanks very much. up next, we're taking you inside the mind of a would-be suicide bomber. it's a story you're going to want to see. ♪...] >> announcer: with nothing but his computer, an identity thief is able to use your information to open a bank account in order to make your money his money. [whoosh, clang] you need lifelock, the only identity theft protection company that now monitors bank accounts for takeover fraud. lifelock: relentlessly protecting your identity.

call 1-800-lifelock or go to lifelock.com today. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] how do you engineer a true automotive breakthrough? ♪ you give it bold new styling, unsurpassed luxury and nearly 1,000 improvements. introducing the redesigned 2013 glk. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services. so why exactly should that be of any interest to you? well, in that time there've been some good days. and some difficult ones.

but, through it all, we've persevered, supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. like the transatlantic cable that connected continents. and the panama canal that made our world a smaller place. we supported the marshall plan that helped europe regain its strength. and pioneered the atm, so you can get cash when you want it. it's been our privilege to back ideas like these, and the leaders behind them. so why should our anniversary matter to you? because for 200 years, we've been helping people and their ideas move from ambition to achievement. and the next great idea could be yours. ♪

humans -- sometimes life trips us up. and sometimes, we trip ourselves up, but that's okay. at liberty mutual insurance we can "untrip" you as you go through your life with personalized policies and discounts when you need them most. just call... and speak with a licensed representative about saving on your policy when you get married, move into a new house... [crash!] or add a car to your policy. don't forget to ask about saving up to 10% when you combine your auto and home insurance with liberty mutual. security, coverage, and savings. all the things humans need to make our beautifully imperfect world a little less imperfect. call... and lock in your rate for 12 months. liberty mutual insurance.

responsibility. what's your policy? in afghanistan right now, u.s. troops are fighting an uphill battle against a recent spate of insurgent attacks, many of them by suicide bombers. cnn's ana cohen spoke exclusively to a suicide bomber. >> reporter: behind these high walls among the 7,000 inmates are several men who say they're hell bent on being terrorists. we've come here to meet a confessed would-be suicide bomber, one of hundreds now locked up behind bars. this 25-year-old believes he was carrying out god's will when he and his friends planned an attack on american soldiers.

he says he agreed to wear a suicide vest and kill as many foreigners as possible. it's a special feeling that comes to you when you are ready for a suicide attack, he tells me. no one can stop you. no one could stop me. that is except the law. when police arrested him five months ago during the plans of the attack, he's now awaiting trial. proudly a member of the taliban, he says no one encouraged him to do this. look at our situation. the foreigners kill our people, they insult our religion burning the holy quran and making cartoons of prophet muhammad. if we do not defend islam, then we are not islam. suicide bombing attacks are now daily occurrences in afghanis n afghanistan. and the method of the insurgents are constantly changing. the enemy don't use their old

tactics, now they use women, sometimes children and teenagers. they even get dressed up in military uniforms. they don't fight face-to-face, they're cowards. the taliban denies using children as suicide bombers, the facts tell a very different story. authorities say just a few days ago a 10 yerld boy managed to escape from insurgents who were going to make him wear a suicide vest so he could blow himself up in front of coalition troops. ruhallah has a 4-year-old son who he says he loves and misses very much. when i ask him how he'd feel if his child was used as a suicide bomber, he tells me -- if he wants to be a suicide bomber when he gets older, well, then, no one can stop him. if he follows islam and does it for islam, then that's a good thing. at times he speaks with hatred in his eyes. and then there are moments when he smiles explaining this is all a test from god. our real life starts after

doomsday. so this is not our real life. this world is a paradise for pagans and a hell for muslims. we just need to be patient. the afghan intelligence service and armed forces say they have foiled dozens of attacks in recent months. and while that's an encouraging sign, ruhallah says there are thousands of others just like him ready to put on a suicide vest and die for their country and their religion. anna coren, cnn, kabul. all right. i want to bring in the chairman of the house committee republican congressman peter king joining us on the phone right now. in the aftermath of the latest investigation into what happened with the u.s. ambassador and three other americans were killed in that terror attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya. mr. chairman, thanks very much for coming in. is it true you're calling on the

united states ambassador to the united nations susan rice, to resign because of the comments she made on those five sunday talk shows? >> yes, wolf. i believe that this was such a failure of foreign policy message and leadership, such a misstatement of facts at the time and for her to go on all of those shows and in effect the spokesman for the world and be misinforming the american people and our allies and countries around the world, to me somebody has to pay the price for this. we have too much things go wrong and everyone forgets about it the next day. i think we have to send a clear message. on such an issue where an american ambassador was killed where by all the evidence at the time the presumption had to be it was terrorism. i can see why if they wanted to say -- whether it was intentionally or unintentionally

and to show the significance of that, i believe she should resign, yes. >> because there is a statement that the spokesperson, the director of public affairs for the office of the director of national intelligence put out today they are saying it was obviously a terrorist -- an action, a deliberate and organized terrorist assault carried out by extremists affiliated or sympathetic with al qaeda, that's today's statement. but they also said this, and let me read it to you because it might explain why susan rice and other administration officials were saying what they were saying. this is from sean turner, director of public affairs. in the immediate aftermath there was information that led us to assess the attack began spontaneously following protests earlier that day at our embassy in cairo. the statement goes onto say that information was provided to the white house and congress with a clear understanding that it was preliminary and could change. "we provided that initial assessment to executive branch officials and members of

congress who use that information to discuss the attack publicly and provide updates as they became available. throughout our investigation we continue to emphasize that information gathered was preliminary and evolving." if you read closely what susan rice was saying, she was saying that was based on the information she and the administration had at the time when she was poo pooing this notion of an al qaeda attack or something along those lines. >> wolf, she was on five days after the fact. and i would agree that there may not have been conclusive evidence that it had to be terrorists, but far more evidence that it was terrorist than it was not terrorist. and if she'd come on and said it's obviously some terrorist involvement here, we're not certain of the extent of it, we're trying to find out. instead she was ruling it out. the fact is everyone came away from watching those shows the belief that the united states government was saying that this was not a terrorist attack.

we saw jay carney saying days after that. but it was set by rice's appearance on those shows. to me she was clearly sending a message it was not terrorist. what she should have said was that there is considerable evidence this could be terrorism. the fact that al qaeda is a stronghold in that area, the fact that al sharia has a hold on that area, direct and indirect fire coming in, heavy weapons involved, the presumption should have been leaning towards terrorism. she wanted to say we're not absolutely certain of the terrorist control, that would have been a true statement. but to come out so clearly and deny and say there was no terrorist involvement, this was not a terrorist attack, that was i believe irresponsible. and whether she was saying it on her own or she was told to say it or whatever, the fact is she was the vehicle by which this message translated to the world.

>> remember this incident occurred on the 11th anniversary of 9/11 in benghazi. i looked it up. here's what she said on some of the shows. i'll read it to you. >> sure. >> she said our current best assessment based on the information we have at present is that in fact what this began as it was a spontaneous not a premeditated response to what had transpired in cairo. she was paraphrasing, she was using that line in her comments. so here's the question to you, do you believe that this was just an inadvertent, she had bad information given to her by the u.s. intelligence community, or she deliberately sought to mislead the american people? >> wolf, i don't know. either way it was wrong. it was intentionally or done through ignorance. in either case i think we have to show that there is a price to be paid for such a gross misstatement of reality and of the facts. and, again, ambassador to the

u.n. and to the world in that position, she's trading a message. everyone watching those shows that day came away with a clear impression that this was not a terrorist attack including jay carney for the next several days kept insisting it was not a terrorist attack. >> i want to wrap it up by saying other administration officials were saying similar things. ambassador susan rice was saying including white house press secretary jay carney, even maybe the president of the united states in the immediate aftermath, but you're spervegly calling for her resignation. >> she was the one who went from show to show. she was the one who was out front. she was the one who was there. and therefore she was going to get the glory of that. now she should pay the consequences. >> peter king is the chairman of the house homeland security committee. mr. chairman, thanks very much for coming in. >> thank you. >> we'll take a quick break. candy crowley is here. she's the anchor of cnn's "state of the union." she interviewed susan rice on that sunday immediately after the 11th anniversary of 9/11.

we'll discuss that and more with candy when we come back. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about low-cost investing. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 at schwab, we're committed to offering you tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 low-cost investment options-- tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 like our exchange traded funds, or etfs tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 which now have the lowest tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 operating expenses tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 in their respective tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 lipper categories. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 lower than spdr

tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and even lower than vanguard. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 that means with schwab, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 your portfolio has tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 a better chance to grow. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and you can trade all our etfs online, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 commission-free, from your schwab account. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 so let's talk about saving money, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 with schwab etfs. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 schwab etfs now have the lowest operating expenses tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 in their respective lipper categories. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 call 1-800-4schwab tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 or visit schwab.com tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 to open an account today. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 funding is easy tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 with schwab mobile deposit. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 investors should consider tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 carefully information d#: 1-800-345-2550 contained in the prospectus, d#: 1-800-345-2550 cluding investment objectives, d#: 1-800-345-2550 risks, charges, and expenses. d#: 1-800-345-2550 you can obtain d#: 1-800-345-2550 a prospectus by visiting tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 w.schwab.com/schwabetfs. please read the prospectus tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 carefully before investing. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550

our chief political correspondent candy crowley, the anchor of cnn's "state of the union" here to follow-up on what we just heard from the chairman of the house homeland security committee. he's calling on the united states ambassador to the united nations to resign because of what she said on your show and four other sunday talk shows when she suggested based on the information she had at that time this was just reaction to that 14-minute anti-muslim trailer as opposed to an organized al qaeda-related terror attack. you interviewed her that day. >> it is true that this was who the administration wanted to put out. the fact she appeared on so many

shows tells her exactly how this rolls. they say here's who we're going to put out. it's interesting to me that they did not put out the head of the national security council. it's interesting to me they didn't put out someone who was sort of in touch with the intelligence information. now, we're assuming that probably the u.n. -- our u.n. ambassador, the u.s. u.n. ambassador does have some access to u.s. intelligence information. but she was clearly going on what those departments told her because they put her out. she didn't voluntarily come on these shows. this is what the administration wanted to have out there. now, whether or not it's her fault certainly is sometimes in washington it doesn't matter whose fault it is, she was the public face of this response. the question i think too is what you asked. and peter king wouldn't play, but the idea is why would you be so adamant? when most people look and say, of course it's a terrorist attack. i mean, they had large weaponry,

it's not something you bring to a protest. and now we're finding out there might not even have been a protest at the time this attack took place. so i think there are lots of questions to be answered here that the administration's going to have to talk about. and what went on in libya, what we know about it, when we knew about it, all that kind of thing. whether or not susan rice is the person that needs to be fired, i can pretty much guarantee you the president won't do that. but whether or not she's responsible i think is an open question. >> they put out a statement earlier today, the office of the united states ambassador to the united nations susan rice. this is from erin pelton, let me read it, during her appearances on the sunday talk show september 16, 2012, ambassador rice's comments were prefaced at every turn with a clear statement that an fbi investigation was underway that would provide the definitive accounting of the events that took place in benghazi. at every turn ambassador rice provided and said she was providing the best information

and the best assessment that the administration had at the time based on what was provided ambassador rice and other u.s. intelligence community. >> it was caveated. >> she didn't deliberately go out to mislead the american people. this is what she was told by the u.s. intelligence community. and this is what she told the american people. in your interview and the interview with the others. >> it was caveated. here's the best information we have at the time. the fbi is looking at that. interesting i think i saw on your show that the fbi hasn't yet been let into libya. >> and may not go because it's so dangerous. >> i'm not sure what they're looking at. nonetheless we assume there are some cia intelligence agents on the ground in libya some place. why they had intelligence that led them to believe it wasn't terrorism is a totally different question. but that's probably more of an intelligence community question than for the u.n. ambassador. >> candy, thanks. i know you're going to follow-up this sunday. don't forget, watch "state of the union" sunday morning 9:00 a.m. eastern.

candy has an exclusive interview with john mccain, the ranking member of the senate armed forces committee. up next, how president obama might be using sports to try to help him win a second term. playing sports is just my whole life. looking back if it wasn't for shriners hospital, things would just be really different. i lost my leg when i was a kid. shriners turned my whole life around. send your love to the rescue. donate today. try the #1 gastroenterologist recommended probiotic. align.

align naturally helps maintain digestive balance. ♪ ooh, baby, can i do for you today? ♪ try align today.

getting reaction from the white house now from this charge of peter king, that susan rice, the united states ambassador to the united states should resign. i just spoke with the spokesman for the national security council and he says rice has done extraordinary work at the united nations and for the

american people. the president appreciates the work she does every day and he is looking forwards to her continued work. this is in reaction that she misled people the sunday after the killing of the u.s. ambassador in libya. he also makes the point that everything she said in that interview was cleared by interagency group based on the latest information that the u.s. had, and certainly nothing was designed to mislead the american people. clearly since those five interviews, u.s. intelligence has not concluded that it was a deliberate effort to kill the u.s. ambassador, and it was an affiliate or inspired by al qaeda, so a strong state for susan rice from the white house coming into cnn only opponents ago. other news we're following, this

week's informal ref controversy involving the botched call at the end of the monday night football game gave president obama and governor romney a chance to use sports psychology. >> it was the call that had every talking on tuesday. >> who has it? >> including president obama. out of sight of cameras on the south lawn of the white house, he told the press it was terrible, and i've been saying for months we have to get our reves back. late wednesday night, the nfl and refs made a deal. so when mitt romney was asked about it it was strange when he said this "i hope they do." and mitt romney was asked who is

your driver? and he said there's a lot of drivers i like, thanks. rory davenport is a form er tennis player. romney comes across as an owner and it's hard to connect with an owner. obama feels like a true sports fan. >> when david cameron came, president obama gave him a taste of the ncaa basketball. president obama isn't always on his game, so to speak. in boston this summer, he

jokingly thanked the city for trading a beloved red sox player to his team, the white sox. >> i just want to thank you for yukelis -- >> i didn't think i would get any boos out of here, but i guess i should not have brought up baseball, i understand, my mistake. >> and remember thisser rant pitch in the nats game? not so good there, wolf. obviously sports can be tricky, but it's a very effective way for candidates to connect to voters. white males, that's obviously, but also women. we have seen here at the white house, president obama, and this is no mistake, paid a lot of

attention to how well those female athletes are doing at the politics in london. he called gabby douglas to congratulate her on her gold metal, and he was very excited about the women's soccer team also. >> yes, thank you brianna keiler. congressman king is calling on susan rice to resign. more on this and other news at the top of the hour. [ woman ] it's 32 minutes to go time, and the candidate's speech is in pieces all over the district. the writer's desktop and the coordinator's phone are working on a joke with local color. the secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategist's tablet. and while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone.

[ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center... working together has never worked so well. romney: "it's time to stand up with to the cheaters"ter... vo: tough on china? not mitt romney. when a flood of chinese tires threatened a thousand american jobs... it was president obama who stood up to china and protected american workers. mitt romney attacked obama's decision... said standing up to china was "bad for the nation and our workers." how can mitt romney take on the cheaters... when he's taking their side?

happening now, mitt romney makes a bold prediction in pennsylvania. israel's prime minister talks by phone to both presidential

candidates, and curiosity makes a potentially major find, signs of water on mars. i'm wolf blitzer and you're in "the situation room." there are two areas where mitt romney sees president obama as vulnerable, israel and iran. today, the nominee was hammering away at both of them. romney made a bold prediction, jim acosta is traveling with romney and joining us with the latest, jim? >> wolf, even though mitt romney's campaign has largely been a pitch to fix the nation's economy, he has been stepping up his attacks on the issue of

national security and specifically on who is a better friend of the state of israel. there are signs that the obama campaign is starting to pay attention. at a military academy in pennsylvania, mitt romney tried to make the case for a new commander in chief. romney questioned the president's recent description of events in the middle east as bumps in the road. >> i certainly don't consider it a bump in the road, i recognize the seriousness. >> it follows net ya hue's dramatic presentation about the nuclear worries. >> a red line should be drawn here. >> just days after the president declined to meet with him, the two leaders spoke on the phone, and then romney, who enjoys a

relationship with netanyahu, got a phone call. they are reminders of the juish american vote in places like florida. mr. biden defended president obama's relationship. >> we're not going to talk about israel today, but i want to talk about how proud i am to stand shoulder to shoulder with a guy who has done more for israel's physical security than anyone president of the eight i have served with. >> on his campaign plain, romney said he would go further than the president and isolate ahmadinejad who threatenned to wipe israel off of the map. >> i think it's still an option open to us. >> less than one week from his debate, he is trying to convince

people that he can win here. >> i have a secret, the obama campaign thinks that pennsylvania is in their pocket, and they don't even need to worry about it and you're right and they're wrong. we're going to win pennsylvania and take the white house. not only does romney have ground to make up in ohio and florida, the latest poll of polls shows romney trailing the president by ten points. republicans have tried but failed to win pennsylvania in recent elections. just ask john mccain who made his own last ditch effort. >> one day left until we take america in a new direction. we need to win in pennsylvania tomorrow. with your help, we will win. >> now, it's unclear what kind of resources the romney campaign is planning to spend on pennsylvania when asked if they would buy in ads in the state, a

romney aid said that is for the romney campaign to know and the obama campaign to worry about. thank you, let's get more on that phone call between president obama and the isreali prime minister benjamin netanyahu. >> reporter: they always emp fi -- say they're in touch weekly. >> they attended tat different times, no meetings, no handshakes, but today a follow up phone call that an official said lasted more than 20 minutes. in a statement released by the white house, it covered a range

of security issues, the president reaffirmed his commitment to israel security, and the two leaders were on full agreement in preventing iran from getting a nuclear weapon. they want to lay down a red line on iran that would lay down military action. >> a red line should be drawn right here. before -- before iran completes the second stage of nuclear enrichment. >> some have accused the prime minister of pressuring the president to help mitt romney, mr. netanyahu says it's not tied to the white house calendar. he brushes aside criticism that there was no face to face meeting. >> me met with and spent time on

the phone with netanyahu more than any leader since he took office. and that is reflective of the importance of and the closeness of the relationship between the united states and israel. >> the white house would not say if the two leaders talked about the so-called red line which of course is a key issue, and no specifics on how they will stop iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, but they will continue their conversations on the issue. >> lots happening today, a big day in the world of news. >> a lot going on today, especially in the intelligence world. the u.s. intelligence community changed their assessment on the attack on the u.s. embassy. they call it a deliberate and organized terrorist assault carried out by extremist, it was initially deemed a spontaneous

incident. they point out that fbi agents assigned to the attack still haven't been able to get to the scene. >> it's day 18 since the attack, and we may not even go now. what would be the point? how traj sick that. we lost four americans including a united states ambassador, and the investigators responsible for drawing conclusions may never have gotten to the scene of this crime. >> we'll have more on the story this hour. we'll hear from peter king, chairman of the house homeland security meeting caller for susan rice to resign over there. and also, the u.s. has intelligence that syria moved chemical weapons at various sights for security reasons. they say the movements are limited and that the u.s. and other countries are monitoring the situation. >> we do believe that those sights still remain secured by

the syrian military. there has been intelligence that there have been some move that's have taken place. where exactly that's taking place, we don't know. >> also in terms of syria, hillary clinton hosted a meeting today of the friends of syria group and she announced a new aid page. $15 million for unarmed opposition groups. finally, the vatican is wearing in on the debate of whether jesus was married. it was revealed by an ancient crap of papyrus. jesus referred to his wife, and they call it a clumsy

counterfeit. as kate just mentioned, a stunning call for the united states ambassador to resign. we'll hear my interview with peter king coming up, and all of the reaction coming in.

i'm also a survivor of ovarian a writand uterine cancers. i even wrote a play about that. my symptoms were a pain in my abdomen and periods that were heavier and longer than usual for me. if you have symptoms that last two weeks or longer, be brave, go to the doctor. ovarian and uterine cancers are gynecologic cancers. symptoms are not the same for everyone. i got sick...and then i got better. one is for a clean, wedomestic energy future that puts us in control.

our abundant natural gas is already saving us money, producing cleaner electricity, putting us to work here in america and supporting wind and solar. though all energy development comes with some risk, we're committed to safely and responsibly producing natural gas. it's not a dream. america's natural gas... putting us in control of our energy future, now.

there's new political fall youth graduate ben zghazi attac. i spoke with peter king, and i asked if it's true that he's calling for the resignation of susan rice because of comments she made on television.

>> yes, i think this was such a failure of importance policy, and such a misation of facts, for her to go on all of those shows, and be our spokesman for the world and be misinforming our people and our allies around the world means sm somebody has to pay the price for it. i think we have to send a clear message. and for an american ambassador who was killed, and all of the accumulation of the evidence, the presumption of the terrorism, i can see why if they wanted to say it's too early that it's definitively terrorism, at that time, it was a terrible mistake to make whether it was done intentionally or unintentionally. there is a tax that the director

of national drjs put out saying it was a terror action, carried out by extremist sympathetic with al-qaeda, that's today's statement. they also said this. let me read it to you. they were saying this is from shawn turner, in the immediate aftermath. there was information that led us to assess that the attack began spontaneously. the statement goes on to say that was provided to the white house and congress with the understanding that it could change. quote, we provided the assessment to members of congress who used that information to go through it publicly. and we continue to emphasize

that the information gathers was evolving, and susan is saying that was based on the information that she was saying there is no notion of an al-qaeda attack. >> she was on five days after the fact, and i agree there may not have been conclusive intelligence that it was terrorists, but there was more evidence that it was than it was not. she's saying we're not certain of the extend of it, but she was ruling it out. and she may have played a little semantics, but everybody came out believing that the united states government was saying this was not a terrorist attack. so the whole predicate to that was said by susan rice and her appearance on those shows, and to me she was clearly sending

the message that it is not terrorists. what she should have said was that there was considerable evidence it could be terrorism, there is a stronghold in that area. the fact that there was direct and indirect fire coming in, heavy weapons involved, the presumption should laean toward terrorism. if she said we're not sir of the extent of terrorism, that would have been fine, but i believe what she did was irresponsible, and whether she was saying it on her own, or told to say it, whatever, she was the vehicle by which that message was translating to the people around the world. >> yes, as you say, it was five days later. i looked it up, and here what s what she said.

she said our current best assessment, based on the information we have at present is in fact what this began as was a spontaneous, not a premeditated response to what happened in cairo. she was using that line in her comments. do you believe this was just inadvertent, she had bad information given to her from the u.s. intelligence community or she sought to mislead the american people. >> i don't know, but either way it was wrong. in either case we have to show there is a price to be paid for such a gross misstatement of reality and the facts. as ambassador to the u.n. and ambassador to the world, she is transmitting a message, and everyone watching those shows that day came away with the impression it was not a terrorist attack including jay

carney who can't insisting it was not a terrorist attack. >> i want to say other administration officials were saying similar things of what susan rice was saying including the secretary of state and maybe even the president in the immediate after math of what happened. but you're specifically calling for her resignation? >> yes, if she went from show to show, she was the one out front, she was the one who was there, and she was going to get the glory, she should pay the c consequenc consequences. thank you for coming in. >> and we're getting reaction very quickly from the obama administration and the state department. first, the spokesman for the national security council at the white house called right after my interview with congressman king and he told me, quote, ambassador rice has done extraordinary work at the united nations.

the president appreciates all of the work she does and looks forward to her continued work. everything she said was cleared by an interagency group based on the latest information that the united states had and nothing was designed to mislead the american people. >> it was almost an instantaneous reaction. we also have a statement from ambassador rice's office who put out a statement on the controversy this morning. as you just heard peter king speaking with wolf. it says, quote, current her appearances, her statements say there was a investigate under way for for what happened in ben zazy. she said she was providing the best information and best assessment in a the

administration had at the time based on what was provided to ambassador rice and other senior u.s. officials. a lot of back and forth, clearly. >> it was clear that she was reflecting what she was told, she would not go out and deliberately lie to the american people. she was told and they said they're giving her and other administration officials the best information they had. they thought it was spontaneous. but obviously that was wrong. >> it wasn't misspeaking. >> she knew what she was saying, and i assume that was based on the information that she received. this is a story that we'll continue now, we'll continue with erin david miller.

you see us, at the start of the day. on the company phone list that's a few names longer. you see us bank on busier highways. on once empty fields. everyday you see all the ways all of us at us bank are helping grow our economy. lending more so companies and communities can expand, grow stronger and get back to work. everyday you see all of us serving you, around the country, around the corner. us bank. perform, compete and grow. and people are driving this change. that's the power of human resources. the society... for human resource management and its members know... how to harness that power, because we help develop it. from the next economy, to the next generation, we help get... the most out of business, by getting the best out of people. shrm. leading people, leading organizations.

and the candidate's speech is in pieces all over the district. the writer's desktop and the coordinator's phone are working on a joke with local color. the secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategist's tablet. and while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center... working together has never worked so well.

the nasa rover dubbed curiosity keeps coming up with disturbing finds. for more on this, chad meyers has been looking into it, how do they know it's a river bed? >> the stones they're seeing are round. you don't get round sent tos unless they have been rolling, like down a river. >> of course there is river on mars, house would they have made

concrete? it's not, it's part of an old ancient river bed. here is mars, here is utah. as they were pushes down the river, they were pussed down and rounded. here is an ancient river bed that we're seeing in the desert. there has not been water here for many, many years. but that's what round stones look like. the water comes down, and the stones become round and they know that's what they're on right now. a lot more to go, have not found any life yet, of course, but life could have been a billion years ago. what might we find even if we find any forms of life. even if it was a billion years ago, not much left. >> absolutely fascinating.

water on mars. what will curiosity find next? thank you, chad. >> not found the green guys yet. >> if it's bottled water, that would be cool. >> just a river bed so far. >> all right, we have breaking news. a congressman calling for susan rice to retire and we're going to talk about it. ♪ [ male announcer ] how do you engineer a true automotive breakthrough? ♪ you give it bold new styling, unsurpassed luxury and nearly 1,000 improvements. introducing the redesigned 2013 glk. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services.

stop! stop! stop! come back here! humans -- we are beautifully imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world. that's why liberty mutual insurance has your back with great ideas like our optional better car replacement. if your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. call... and ask one of our insurance experts about it today. hello?! we believe our customers do their best out there in the world, and we do everything we can to be there for them when they need us. [car alarm blaring] call now and also ask about our 24/7 support and service. call... and lock in your rate for 12 months today. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

u.s. intelligence is calling the assault on benghazi libya a terrorist assault with those associated with al qaeda. that's a major revision from the initial assessment that deemed the attack spontaneous. >> and susan rice repeated that assessment on several talk shows. now peter king is accusing her of misleading the person people, and he wants her to step down. >> to rule out terrorism, to say it was not terrorism at that time, was, to me, a terrible mistake to make. whether it was done intentionally or not, i believe she should resign, yes. >> let's talk about that and more with aaron david miller,

ado you agree with susan rice should resign ari? >> i say this as an alum nis, i didn't like it when people demanded heads to role in the bush administration. i would prefer for us to join together. sometimes i think the world laughs at us because we get struck, and who do we turn on? each other. i would rather go after the terrorists that did it first and then settle any domestic matters. she said something she should not have said. i don't know if she was just being loose. i think the obama administration has a mistire of under playing threats to the united states, for example the underwear

bomber, but i'm uncomfortable with this talk of resign. >> are you uncomfortable because of the bad intelligence that was provided to bush administration officials about weapons of mass destruction in iraq that sets the stage for the war? there was plenty of calls for resignation as a result of that bad intelligence. >> i'm uncomfortable because i think when there's a terrorist attack, we should come together as americans. i didn't like when it was done to george bush, i don't like it when it's done to barack obama. intelligence is hard to follow, and you have to let some time pass. she was wrong, obviously, but did she have access to all of the information? we don't know the answers to though things, but i would rather not set my sights on her. >> you served six secretaries of

state. what do you think aaron? >> i think ari is right, we try to find vehicles that are convenient fall, for what frankly was, and i think ar sierks being magnanimous here, at best, a muddled message. days after the attack on benghazi, the "new york times" was reporting as the organized protests, what is now considered an assault on the consulate, they were talking to members so it was clear that this was more than a spontaneous display of anger after a vile video. so i think the administration has to get it's messaging straight, and even during a

political campaign, you have to be very careful when it comes to these matters that you be as straight and consistent as you can. susan rice should not resign. she's doing her job, and the reality is she's not out there on her own dime anyway. she's reflecting military policy and what they want to convey. >> ari, let me ask you, you worked in the bush white house, how should you handle putting out this kind of information. i'm sure you're criticized for being too far in front of your skis or for withholding information that the public should know about. >> the first 24 hours after an attack like that, you should not rush to conclusions. that first mountain of intelligence changes quickly. it's a scene no one can get their arms around yet and it takes time. i thought the administration for

trying to down play it right from the start. the times square bomber they said had no connections and the underwear bomber as well but they did. they want to act and talk difference to they down play, but once something like this happens, what you really need to do is say we're gatoring the facts, it will take time, we don't rule anything in or out. here they seem to just want to rush to blame it on the video which i think had very little credibility. i think they made bad judgments and mistakes, said things they should not have said, it rises to congressional hearings level and a deep investigation level. >> we have more to discuss, we're going to ask aaron david miller about his column that he just wrote suggesting that benjamin netanyahu is going too far with his red line for iran. there are a lot of warning lights

and sounds vying for your attention. so we invented a warning you can feel. introducing the all-new cadillac xts. available with a patented safety alert seat. when there's danger you might not see, you're warned by a pulse in the seat. it's technology you won't find in a mercedes e-class. the all-new cadillac xts has arrived, and it's bringing the future forward.

and every day since, two years ago, the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf. we've worked hard to keep it. bp has paid over twenty-three billion dollars to help people and businesses who were affected, and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open for everyone to enjoy -- and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. we've shared what we've learned with governments and across the industry so we can all produce energy more safely. i want you to know, there's another commitment bp takes just as seriously: our commitment to america. bp supports nearly two-hundred-fifty thousand jobs in communities across the country. we hired three thousand people just last year. bp invests more in america than in any other country. in fact, over the last five years, no other energy company has invested more in the us than bp. we're working to fuel america for generations to come.

today, our commitment to the gulf, and to america, has never been stronger.

benjamin netanyahu provided one of the most dramatic moments on the u.n. assembly when he drew a red line on a cartoon bomb. but aaron david miller says by stressing red line that's can't or won't enforce netanyahu

threatens to ir state a close ally and undermine their credibility. >> what do you explain by meaning that that red line drawn was such a bad idea? >> first of all, i don't want to trivialize their concerns. we should not give them the benefit of the doubts. the question is how to deal with it. red lines can be effective if you have three things. number one, a sense of urgency. i think all of the drama was diffused by the take away that israel will not act at the earliest to late spring or summer. red lines work if other people sign up to them. i didn't note a made rush to the

exits yesterday for countries wanting to validate what he said. and red lines work if your key strategic partner, your key friend, in this case barack obama, is on the same page as you. and she clearly not there yet. what the israelis need to focus on, and it quoting a former dmi chief, less the zone of immunity and more the zone of trust. in the end, they don't to strike iran, they want us to do it. they know it would be far more effective. >> do you agree with that assessment of the red line ari? >> let me tell you a quick story that will lead up to the iraq war.

president bush sat down and said if israel was struck by iran in the 2003 war and it was chemical weapons, what would israel do. he said to president bush, as the keeper of the juish people, and the person responsible for keeps us safe,ly defend israel and do whatever we need to do, we trust you and believe you, but i need to protect my people. america is much more powerful than eaisrael, but they don't kw if they will or won't come to their military aid. i think what netanyahu did was smartly ratchet up the pressure that will certainly become front page news stories all spring and summer next year and we'll see if the obama administration is reelected, what will they do. so the timing of it, he planted that seed.

it will dominate everything next spring and summer. >> no one will forget that prop he brought for a long time to come as well. i want to listen to something that vice president biden said today and get your reaction to this. >> i just want to tell you how proud i am to stand shoulder to shoulder with a guy who has done more for israel's physical security than any president of the eight i have served with. >> so it continues george w. bush, do you agree with joe biden's assessment here? >> first of all, you should know i'm on the republican jewish association and we're running a campaign against obama. he has try today invaes them, but that's how military technology works, it gets better

and smarter and the next picks up where the last left off enincrease it's. it would be a shock if someone ceased it or moved it back wards. but about having israel's back, that's a big question. having him condemn their policies in the way he did, having them say return to the 67 borders, having him flip-flop on if the capital is jerusalem. >> he did say return to the 67 lines with mutually agreed swaps which was the same position that the bush administration -- wait, and work for those presidents that we're talking about, go ahead, aaron and respond to that. >> substitutiinstitutionally, t thriving, but that's only part of the story. the fact is the that's not just

an institutional relationship. it's driving by value affinity, and the understanding of a president what israel's fears and real considers are. i have to dell you, and i work for democrats and republicans, i voted for mocrats and republicans, and i'm not associated with anybody else's campaign. the reality is this is the most dysfunctional relationship between an american president and an israeli prime minister that i have ever seen. barack obama does not have the same kind of emotional and instinctive instinctive affinity that bill clinton had or george bush had. the charge that he has thrown israel under the sbus utterly ri kick rouse. but obama thinks netanyahu is a con man without much respect for american interests and net anyau

thinks the president is blo bloodless and doesn't understand what it's like to be a tiny power with a bad past. and this dysfunction on iran and the isreali peace process has to be addressed because it may well be these two guys will be here for the next few years. >> we'll have to leave it there, but we'll continue this conversation. ari and aaron, thanks, guys. up next, is the pentagon getting too cozy with hollywood? and some difficult ones. but, through it all, we've persevered, supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. so why should our anniversary matter to you? because for 200 years, we've been helping ideas move from ambition to achievement.

and the next great idea could be yours. ♪ droid does. and does it launch apps by voice while learning your voice ? launch cab4me. droid does. keep left at the fork. does it do turn-by-turn navigation ? droid does. with verizon, america's largest 4g lte network, and motorola, droid does. get $100 off select motorola 4g lte smartphones like the droid razr.

the pentagon is investigating the military's involvement about the raid that killed osama bin laden. >> there are concerns secrets are getting spilled. here's barbara starr. >> we're spending billions of dollars. we are still no closer to defeating our enemy. >> a new hollywood thriller about one of the most secret missions ever. the operation to kill osama bin laden. >> when was the last time you saw bin laden? >> the movie zero dark thirty is just the latest in real life action becoming big screen box office. also in production, a movie starring tom hanks about the rescue of captain richard phillips from smoly pirates. next up, the marcus latrel

story, the only survivor of a 2005 afghanistan mission in which 19 navy and army commandos died. a movie based on this book "lone is survivor," is also likely to get military help. >> thank you, you're welcome. >> but is it all too much hollywood? former navy s.e.a.l. harry humphries was a consultant on black hawk down and other productions. he says some projects are telling too many national secrets. >> it's gotten out of hand. there's too much being discussed about a community that lives on the fact that it's a group of folks that thrive on a concept called silent pride. >> the debate erupted after the publication of "no easy day." seen here is the author, a navy s.e.a.l. on the bin laden raid.

admiral mcraven has been warning about loose lips. >> are people affected by the information that comes out? you bet they are. are lives at are risk? absolutely. >> ironically, mcraven's interest in joining the military came after seeing this movie, green bareas, about the vietnam war. ♪ for years, the military has loned hollywood ships, aircraft and even active duty s.e.a.l.s as technical advisers, but in the movie "act of valor," real s.e.a.l.s were the actors. the navy acknowledges the movie didn't go through standard approval, but the bottom line remained in tact. >> i think the principle concern, and i think every american can understand this, is the divulging of sensitive information, tactics,

techniques, procedures. >> but that new bin laden movie, it's already a political hot potato after e-mails emerged showing moviemakers met with top administration officials after the raid. zero dark thirty is set for release after the presidential election, but it hasn't dimmed the criticism that hollywood and the military may be getting too cozy. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >> barbara, thank you. coming up, woman thought she stumbled on a wind fall at a flee market. unfortunately, the fbi says not so fast. you can feel. introducing the all-new cadillac xts. available with a patented safety alert seat. when there's danger you might not see, you're warned by a pulse in the seat. it's technology you won't find in a mercedes e-class. the all-new cadillac xts has arrived,

and it's bringing the future forward. and every day since, two years ago, the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf. we've worked hard to keep it. bp has paid over twenty-three billion dollars to help people and businesses who were affected, and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open for everyone to enjoy -- and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. we've shared what we've learned with governments and across the industry so we can all produce energy more safely. i want you to know, there's another commitment bp takes just as seriously: our commitment to america. bp supports nearly two-hundred-fifty thousand jobs in communities across the country. we hired three thousand people just last year. bp invests more in america than in any other country. in fact, over the last five years, no other energy company has invested more in the us than bp. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. today, our commitment to the gulf, and to america,

has never been stronger. is the only yogurt brand endorsed by weight watchers and your taste buds have always endorsed us. so, you know what this means... this is a real win win! yoplait, it is so good.

a -- sold for $7 at a flee

market. is. >> brian todd explains. >> wolf, this is the sadie may room, a well-known donor, a patron of the arts in baltimore. she lent a painting by -- to this museum many decades ago. in 1951, that was stolen. the circumstances around that are not clear, but it made its way from 1951 to a flee market in west virginia where it was sold for $7, where it was bought to some other kind of trinkets in a box for $7. it is worth up to or possibly over $100,000 and we're here with dorean, the director of the baltimore museum of art. how do you think it might have made its way from being stolen

here in 1951 to being bought at a flee market two years ago? >> it's an amazing mystery and we may never know the course of the painting. 1951, 61 years ago. we didn't have computers, digital images. things were recorded by hand. index cards. things were graphed or carbon paper. very different from how we record information today. so we'll be very lucky, i think, to find out the whole story. >> good luck in trying to find that story and thank you for this. the museum is working with the fbi and others to try and piece together what happened to the painting and now, they're going to have to determine custody of it, wolf. whether it belongs to the museum, the estate or the woman who bought the painting at the flee market in west virginia. that woman wants to remain anonymous. we're going to determine hopefully how a painting bought for $7 in